523

Episode 523: I came to save you. (1)

"What is your name?"

The one in silver armor opened his mouth.

The 'Master of the Dead', deeply draped in old gray robes, answered.

"You deserve to hear my name. My name is Helgenik."

"I see. I am Aiden, the executive officer of the Salvation Church."

There were countless corpses piled up around the two people.

The corpses were in a variety of states, from those that had been dead for a long time and were in a state of decay to those that appeared to have just died.

There were also several corpses of knights in silver armor, as well as quite a few corpses of what appeared to be bandits.

This was the scene that unfolded as the troops brought by Aiden clashed with the corpses summoned by Helgenik.

Strictly speaking, it was Aiden's loss. A significant portion of the troops he brought were killed.

"That's why necromancers are so difficult to deal with. It's hard to have a proper fight."

The legions of corpses summoned by the Necromancer can fight endlessly without tiring.

So, Helgenik didn't need to fight Aiden one-on-one; he just had to keep churning out troops until his magic power was depleted.

Aiden continued, sweeping his disheveled hair back.

"I've wasted too much time because of you. This is why the school is doubting my abilities."

"Hmm… … So you're asking me to give in? I'm still capable."

Helgenik still had quite a bit of magical power left.

Of course, Aiden's condition was better. He also knew how necromancers fought, so he sent out his troops to conserve his strength.

Originally, he preferred to kill enemies at the end when they were tired from fighting with his subordinates.

That way, you can get the ball without getting hurt.

However, Helgenik was the worst matchup for Aiden to face. He had already lost enough troops to hear a scolding from the church. The opponent's skills were much better than expected.

Aiden said, looking around at the sword.

"It's too much of a loss to continue… … . As expected, it's worthy of being renowned at the end of that continent."

If he kept summoning corpses and ran away, it would be a big problem. Aiden was slightly worried.

'I see.'

There was one way to compensate for the loss and improve his position.

Aiden said with a bright smile.

"Hey, how about joining hands with us?"

"hmm."

Helgenik folded his arms. He was a funny guy. How could he ask someone to join hands with him after killing his own people like that?

It was clear that he was being sincere. It was so obvious that he was a total hypocrite who cared only about his own reputation.

Helgenik smiled with amusement in the shadow of the robe.

"What can I do for you?"

"You were capturing our priests and experimenting on them? With your skills, I could probably save one or two priests. If they were normal humans, I could save as many as you want."

Helgenik smiled without realizing it at Aiden's suggestion.

"Kuk kuk kuk… … ."

Even though he was only half-baked, he wasn't really normal, to be testing a priest who had reached superhuman levels.

Helgenik liked the terms Aiden had proposed. If he joined hands with the Salvation Cult that was sweeping the continent, he would be able to live comfortably for a while.

It was already a bit of a hassle to have to procure both the corpses and the experimental materials myself.

"Can you let me examine the cracks too? I wonder how they're made."

Helgenick added a condition as if it was a good thing.

The monsters emerging from the cracks were clearly not of this world. That piqued his curiosity.

Aiden nodded willingly.

"That's not difficult either."

"Good… … . What should I do for you?"

"We just need to wipe out those who are getting in our way. Someone like you would be a great help."

"It's probably no different than usual."

Helgenik smiled at Aiden. Killing people was no different from what he had always done.

But when I thought about it that way, it became even more strange. He killed people to create his own followers and to conduct research. But I couldn't figure out their purpose.

"You guys… … why do you kill people? What is your purpose?"

Aiden said with a nonchalant expression.

"Oh, it's nothing. The church said they would revive our god and create a new world. Is there another true master of this world?"

"Kuk kuk kuk… … ."

Those who want to create a new world sacrifice people and summon monsters. They are not normal themselves, but even among the crazy ones, there have never been crazy people like this.

"As expected, you guys are not a normal religion."

It was a very trivial reason in Helgenik's eyes. They were no different from the pseudo-religions that had appeared consistently. They seemed to have some mysterious knowledge, judging from the fact that they could open cracks, but that was all.

Aiden laughed at Helgenik's reaction.

"Isn't that funny? That's just how fanatics are. But that's not the reason I follow them."

"Then what is it?"

"What? Do we need a reason to conquer the world? We can become the masters of the world and be admired forever. Do you need a stronger reason than that?"

"Kuk kuk kuk… … ."

Helgenik laughed again. The more I look at him, the more I see that he is a man true to his desires.

In his robes, shrouded in shadow, he licked his lips.

'It looks really delicious.'

It would be incredibly satisfying to eat a soul that was that corrupted. It was a shame that it was so strong despite its appearance and not easy to eat.

Still, I thought it would be fun to hang out with him.

"Okay, now what?"

"The Kingdom of Rutania is currently in the midst of a civil war. We need to settle things from there. Our target is Earl Fenris."

"Earl Fenris… … ."

"The Revolutionary Group has decided to join us. There are many who died by your hand, but… … If you help us, there will be no problem."

"Revolutionary group… … ."

Helgenik also knew about the Revolutionary Group. It was a group of people who wanted to turn the world upside down in some way.

The corpses, all dressed and armed in different ways like bandits, were the revolutionary forces.

The Salvation Church was met with a lot of resistance because it had suddenly launched earlier than planned. In the meantime, Helgenik was indiscriminately killing people and even killed the Salvation Church's priest.

Aiden's mission was to recruit the Revolutionary Corps to bolster their forces and dispatch Helgenik on their way back.

The plan changed slightly, from executing him to persuading him.

"Yeah, that's a good situation."

The continent will fall into greater chaos as two forces that want to turn the world upside down join hands.

Helgenick decided to stay with the Salvation Church for the time being. The more the Salvation Church ran wild, the better for him.

Because he was a necromancer who lived off of people's despair and fear.

* * *

The Kingdom of Rutania prepared for war under the command of Giselle.

At first, there was a lot of talk about where to start helping, but Jisel, who was in charge of the royal army, simply sorted it out.

"Start with the close and urgent places. We have to take care of everything anyway. Let's go to the Kingdom of Seiron first."

It was because the Kingdom of Ceylon was right next to the Kingdom of Rutania, but there was another reason as well.

"Shouldn't our administrators live without worry?"

There were many graduates of Seiron Academy in the Fenris Territory.

Most of their families migrated to Fenris, but many remained in Ceylon. The magistrate also had many relatives and friends in the kingdom of Ceylon.

Of course, as soon as the rift incident broke out, Jiselle sent troops to help them evacuate.

But regardless of my physical safety, the destruction of my hometown would have been a great shock to the people.

Giselle glanced at Claude.

'Tsk tsk... ... That's why I told you to come together from the beginning.'

Ever since it was decided to go to the Kingdom of Ceylon, Claude had been acting restless.

Claude sent people to the Kingdom of Ceylon several times, but could not find Anna, his former lover.

The entire kingdom was in ruins, so there was no way to know where they had fled.

'The country is too small to hold its own.'

The Kingdom of Seiron was such a small country that, far from preventing the rift, they were only able to gather all their forces and barely defend the area around the capital. It would not have been strange if it had fallen long ago.

Fortunately, it was because they stuck close to Rutania that they were able to survive until now. The Salvation Church was so focused on Rutania that they just opened up a crack and left it alone.

I thought it was so weak that it would be ruined if left alone.

"Okay, let's move quickly."

As always, Jiselle led the mobile force and some magicians and moved first. The reorganized 100,000-strong northern army followed behind.

The Allied Forces that had been involved in the civil war left to help other kingdoms. The Leipold Army led by Amelia was no exception.

Upon entering the kingdom of Ceylon, only empty cities and towns welcomed Giselle.

"This is serious."

The Kingdom of Seiron was so small that only three cracks opened. However, even those could not hold out and everyone fled to the vicinity of the capital.

It was inevitable, as the blue fog pouring out of the crack was expanding its area.

Jiselle looked around the surrounding area and clicked her tongue in bewilderment.

"It looks like they ran away without even fighting? What the heck, you guys?"

Even if you kill only the Cracklings, the rate at which the Crackling area expands will significantly slow down. This is because you have to use the power of Equidema when new Cracklings come in to fill the empty space.

However, as the number of Crackers increases, Equidema can only focus on expanding its territory.

As a result of leaving the cracks unattended, just three cracks grew large enough to cover the entire kingdom of Seiron.

"Let's clear the way to the capital! Let's go!"

Doo doo doo doo doo doo!

Jiselle and the Mobile Forces headed straight into the fog that covered the road to the capital.

It wasn't the old way of forming a formation and pushing forward slowly. The northern army had become too strong for that.

Kaaaak!

As they entered the area, the Crackers surged forward like a tidal wave. They had been steadily building up, so their numbers were enormous.

Vanessa and the wizards were the first to scatter their magic. Behind her were as many as six circle wizards. There were also as many as twenty circle wizards.

"Chain Lightning."

Dismissed!

The lightning bolts that Vanessa shot out shot out in all directions. Then, typhoons summoned by the wizards swept in from all directions, and pillars of flame burst out everywhere.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kaaaak!

The rift people who had been swarming indiscriminately were blown away countless times before they could even approach. The massive area-of-effect magic swept them away without hesitation.

However, it was impossible to deal with all the cracks that had been accumulating for a long time with magic. If the cracks had expanded to this extent, there would be at least a million of them.

Kaaaah! Kaaaah!

Even though tens of thousands of their comrades had disappeared at once, the Crackers continued to swarm without stopping. The wizards continued to cast spells without sparing any magical power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The 7th Circle Wizards and the 5th and 6th Circle Wizards continued to attack the Crackers who rushed in with their bare bodies.

By the time they had exhausted all their magic power, half of the rifters were gone.

Kuung!

As the wizards retreated, Parniel stepped forward with a ferocious laugh.

"Good."

The Crackers have no tactics. They just push through with numbers.

There has never been an enemy so great as to fight without thinking. And that is especially true when it comes to enemies that must be eliminated by a saint.

Kwaaaaang!

Parniel leapt into the midst of the rifts without hesitation. The divine power shining from her body burned away the rifts that approached her.

Kaaaak!

Even the crackers that seemed to know no pain would twist their bodies when they got near her. If they just clung to her, they would burn up and emit black smoke.

There was a reason why Parniel was at the forefront. The eyes of the Crackers were all focused on her, who possessed divine power.

"Okay, let's go too!"

Giselle ran forward, shouting loudly. Gillian and Tennant followed behind her. Belinda stayed behind to protect the wizards and priests.

And Kaor followed along, frowning and cursing as always.

'Shit, seriously. Why won't the Auror Blade come out again?'

This kind of large-scale massacre was something I didn't experience often. I wanted to have fun, but my Auror Blade wasn't coming out.

Doo doo doo doo doo!

The Fenris Mobile Force also followed Jisel. They all held their spears tightly and rushed towards the Crackers.

Kwaaaaang!

The rift people rushing towards Parniel were instantly torn apart. The charge of the superhumans and 20,000 cavalry was no different from the area-of-effect magic of the wizards.

"Oh, Goddess!"

In the rear, Piote and the priests gave their best efforts to bless the knights in front.

Kaaaak!

Divine power spread out from all directions. The cracker's body burned before he could fight properly.

The mobile force continued to push forward without missing the gap.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kaaaak!

The Crackers were helpless. Many of them could only do a little bit of time-wasting.

No army on the continent could ever hope to unleash such overwhelming combat power against the Rift.

"Let's just push it all the way to Equidema!"

"Wow!"

As Jiselle shouted, the mobile force shouted powerfully and pushed the crackers back.

While they were fighting like this, the Seiron army, unaware that reinforcements had arrived, stood at the defense line near the capital with expressions full of worry.

"There is nowhere to run now."

"Damn, what the hell are the nobles doing?"

"Shh, be quiet. If you get caught, I'll call you a police officer."

The soldiers couldn't even vent their grievances. As the mood got worse, the higher-ups only caught the poor soldiers.

Although it was done under the pretext of maintaining discipline, the soldiers could not have been unaware that it was just unnecessary harassment.

"If it's going to be like this, at least give me a proper meal."

"I'm so hungry I can't even exert myself."

"You damn kids, should we run away too?"

With the entire kingdom in ruins, food production was no longer possible. The area around the capital was now filled with starving soldiers and refugees.

Nevertheless, the nobles were still well fed with the food they had stored up. They were even considered loyal subjects.

Because most of the nobles had already gathered their wealth and fled to other countries.

The Kingdom of Seiron was in such dire straits. All they could do was defend the area around the capital and hold out.

As the soldiers grumbled and complained, clutching their hungry bellies, the ground shook.

Doo doo doo doo doo!

The sound of horse hooves was heard through the wide blue fog. The soldiers on guard shouted in surprise.

"What, something is coming!"

The soldiers hurriedly formed a line. They didn't even think about finding out what it was. They didn't have the courage to do so.

They immediately began attacking with the catapults they had managed to scrape together.

Boohoo! Boohoo! Boohoo!

Stones began to shoot towards the blue fog. I didn't know where the enemy was, but I was scared so I shot and saw.

But… …the stone shattered in midair before it could enter the wide-spreading fog.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Ugh, eww! What is that!"

Something was rising up and shattering all the stones. The soldiers were terrified and confused.

"Hey, don't be scared! Keep shooting! Keep shooting!"

The commanders didn't know what was going on, so they just gave the order to shoot. But they were also ready to run away.

At that moment, a loud voice rang out from within the blue fog.

"Stop shooting! I've come to help you!"

"The monster is speaking!"

The soldiers, who were becoming more and more confused, fired their catapults even harder. Of course, every single stone that flew was shattered without exception.

"Stop shooting!"

Something fell from the sky with an angry scream.

Flash!

Kwaaaaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

The catapults began to crash. The soldiers became even more terrified at the sight.

"Eww! Now we're doing long-range attacks too!"

"Run away!"

"This kingdom ended long ago!"

When the soldiers shouted like that and tried to run away, even throwing away their weapons.

grasp!

A group of troops appeared through the blue fog.

Only then did the soldiers sit down. No matter how you looked at them, they were humans, and their legs gave out in relief.

The commander asked the rider on the black horse at the head of the army.

"Who, who are you?"

Jiselle chuckled, tilting the window aside.

"I am the Duke of Fenris of the Kingdom of Rutania. I have come to rescue you."

At the answer they could not even imagine, the soldiers of Seiron all had dumbfounded expressions.